Contractor Shut-Down Threatens Future Stores

February 22, 2012

At least two future Apple retail stores in Australia could be in jeopardy after a construction firm failed to find an investor to rescue it from bankruptcy. Kell & Rigby has reportedly been the structural contractor for all of the Australia stores, including the rumored Broadway Centre (Sydney) and MacArthur Chambers (Brisbane) stores now under construction. Earlier this month K&R began accepting “expressions of interest” from firms interested in buying any part of the business. The company was in talks with several potential buyers over the past two weeks, but no agreements could be reached. The company then issued a “stand down” letter to its employees, effectively ending all construction work, including at the Apple store buildings. K&R was founded as a family business in 1910, and has 125 employees managing 24 building projects. The company’s shut-down also affects several hundred other workers at companies employed as sub-contractors.